Of course they don't match up exactly but the differences were so minor that there was no compelling reason to choose one over the other.

What about Sound?

They don't all sound the same. Even though they're all manufactured for them by Etronics they don't match in many ways at all. They use different DACs, they used different power supplies, etc. The build quality might not even be the same because they choose different frame material. All even though Etronics manufactures most of the Receivers made.

A receiver I just saw that might be the best value is the new Sherwood Newcastle models which is Etronics own brand. So the receivers are a better deal because of their manufacturing.

For me and your opinion may difer these are the top sounding Receivers:

Pretty much you can group them too. Arcam and Sunfire are in a league by themselves. NAD, Sherwood Newcastle, Outlaw Audio, and the high end Denons their own, and low end Denons and the rest in the low end group.

The cool thing about receivers is that the low end group is full of capabilities if not audiophile sound quality. The other cool thing is that low end gear sounds a heck of a lot better than it used to just 10 years ago.